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The child group used as a reference system when analysing frequency of morbidity in day-care centres
1Sachs Children's Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Outpatient Department, Nynäshamn, Sweden.
Insights
Children in daycare with more siblings and younger mothers were sick more often. Lower socioeconomic status and family smoking were linked to higher illness frequency in children, impacting daycare attendance.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Childhood morbidity in daycare settings is a significant concern for public health.
- Understanding factors influencing illness frequency is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze morbidity frequency among children attending daycare centers.
- To identify socioeconomic and familial factors associated with frequent illness in young children.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of annual illness-related absences in children across six Stockholm daycare centers.
- Classification of children as "often sick" or "mainly healthy" within their peer groups.
- Multiple linear regression to identify correlations between absence and various factors.
Main Results:
- A "sick third" of children experienced twice the absence rate of their peers.
- Lower social standing, more siblings, poor social conditions, and family smoking were linked to higher sickness.
- Younger maternal age and a higher number of siblings showed the strongest correlation with child illness.
Conclusions:
- Childhood morbidity in daycare is influenced by socioeconomic status, family structure, and parental factors.
- Interventions should consider family size, maternal age, and socioeconomic support.
- Increasing maternal age correlated with improved socioeconomic standing and fewer sick children.
Abstract:
Morbidity frequency was analysed among children attending six day-care centres in a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. Absence due to illness was calculated annually for each child and correlated with each child's own group. Thus a child was classified as "often sick" or "mainly healthy" in relation to the other children in the child's own group, constituting a reference system. In almost every group a "sick third" was found, whose absence due to illness was twice that of the rest of the group. Children from families of lower social standing, those with a relatively large number of siblings and those living in poor social conditions were found to be among those most often reported as sick. In such families, smoking was more commonplace. These parents more often lived in a rented apartment than in a single detached owner house. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that young mothers and children with several siblings had the strongest correlation with absence due to illness of the proband child. Increasing maternal age revealed improvement vis-à-vis all socioeconomic parameters investigated, reflecting an improvement in standing correlated to less sick children.